Electrical connector shield case

ABSTRACT

An electrical connector shield case for enclosing an insulation member having a plurality of contacts, which comprises a cylindrical member made by bending a metal piece so as to enclose said insulation member; and said cylindrical member having locking means on opposite ends of said metal piece so as to prevent opening of said cylindrical member.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates generally to electrical connector shieldcases, especially to an electrical connector shield case for enclosingthe insulation member of a plug connector or receptacle.

2. Description of the Prior Art

FIGS. 8 and 9 show a conventional electrical connector shield caseconsisting of front and rear case sections 10 and 20. The front or rearcase section has a cylindrical shell 13 or 23 and a transverse flange 11or 21. These case sections 10 and 20 are joined together by putting thetransverse flanges 11 and 21 together with screws, for example, toenclose an insulation block 40 on which male contacts 30 are planted.

These shield case sections 10 and 20 have been made of a sheet of metal.A method of making the front shield case section 10 will described withreference to FIGS. 10A through 10E.

(1) As FIG. 10A shows, a rectangular piece of metal 10A sufficientlylarge to meet the size of a final product or front case section 10 suchas shown in FIG. 8 is prepared.

(2) As FIGS. 10B and 10C show, a lower die 50 with a protuberance 51having a section similar to that of the shell 12 is pushed upwardly intoan upper die 60 with a depression 61 to draw a case element 10B having acrown portion 11B and a brim portion 12B such as shown in FIG. 10D.

(3) As FIG. 10E shows, a lower die 70 with a protuberance 71 having asection similar to that of the crown 11B and a depression 72corresponding to the periphery of the flange 11 of the front casesection 10 and an upper die 80 with a depression 81 having a sectionsimilar to that of the crown 11B and a protuberance 82 corresponding tothe periphery of the flange 11 of the front case section 10 arerelatively moved toward each other to form an opening 13 on the top ofthe crown 11B and the desired flange 11 as shown in FIG. 8.

(4) As FIG. 11 shows, a plurality of front case sections 10 are hungfrom a hanger 92 and dipped in the plating liquid 91 of a plating tank90 for plating. The rear case section 20 may be made in thesubstantially same manner as that of the front case section 10 and itsdescription will be omitted.

As FIG. 8 shows, the insulation block 40 is placed between the front andrear case sections, fitted into the opening 23 of the rear case section20 and then covered by the front case section 10. The front and rearcase sections 10 and 20 are put together by inserting a pair of studs24' with a through hole 24 through a pair of apertures 14 in the frontflange 11 and deforming them (FIG. 9).

The above electrical connector shield case, however, has the followingshortcomings.

(1) The above drawing process reduces the yield of a metal sheet andincreases the material cost.

(2) The respective steps of the above manufacturing process arecompletely separated and are difficult to use in a continuous productionline, thus increasing the unit manufacturing cost.

(3) The drawing process requires a soft and extensible metal, putting alimit on the range of choices in material and pushing up the unitmanufacturing cost. The soft material is also liable to deformation byan external force.

(4) The height of a shell drawn is so large that the thickness of theshield case becomes uneven, thus reducing the product precision.

(5) In order to make a good shield contact between two connectors, it isoften necessary to make some projections on the outside or inside of thecase surface. These projections are very difficult to make by drawing.

(6) For plating, each case has been hung manually on the hanger,reducing the production efficiency and increasing the unit manufacturingcost.

(7) For assembly of a shield case around an insulation block has beenmade manually and is very difficult to mechanize, increasing the unitmanufacturing cost. This manual operation also brings about a dispersionin the product quality.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of an invention to provide an electrical connectorshield case which is free from the aforementioned problems.

It is another object of the invention to provide a method of making suchan electrical connector shield case.

According to one aspect of the invention there is provided an electricalconnector shield case for enclosing an insulation member having aplurality of contacts, which comprises a cylindrical member made bybending a metal piece so as to enclose said insulation member; and saidcylindrical member having locking means on opposite ends of said metalpiece so as to prevent opening of said cyclindrical member.

According to another aspect of the invention there is provided anelectrical connector shield case for enclosing an insulation member,which comprises an first case section with a first cylindrical membermade by bending a first metal piece so as to enclose said insulationmember; a second case section with a second cylindrical member made bybending a second metal piece so as to enclose said insulation member incooperation with said first cylindrical member; opposite ends of each ofsaid first and second metal pieces have locking means for engaging eachother to prevent opening of each of said first and second cylindricalmembers; and said first and second case sections have fastener means forjoining said first and second case sections together so as to enclosesaid insulation member.

According to still another aspect of the invention there is provided amethod of making an electrical connector shield case for enclosing aninsulation member with a plurality of contacts, which comprises thesteps of stamping out of a metal sheet at least one profiled metal piecewith locking means at its opposite ends; and bending said metal piece insuch a manner that said locking means may engage each other to form acylindrical member for enclosing said insulation member.

Other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will beapparent from the following description taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of an electrical connector shieldcase before assembly.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the assembled electrical connectorshield case according to the present invention.

FIG. 3A is an elevational view of the flat front section of FIG. 1. FIG.3B is an elevational view of the front case section in a plating bath.

FIG. 4A is an elevational view of the flat rear case section of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4B is an elevational view of the rear section in a plating bath.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the front case section of another shieldcase according to the invention.

FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view of a still another shield caseaccording to the invention.

FIG. 7A is an elevational view of a stamped flat shield case of FIG. 6.

FIG. 7B is an elevational view of the flat shield case of FIG. 6 in aplating bath.

FIG. 8 is an exploded perspective view of a conventional electricalconnector shield case.

FIG. 9 is the assembled shield case according to the prior art.

FIG. 10A through 10E illustrates the manufacturing process of theconventional shiled case of FIG. 9.

FIG. 11 shows how to plate the conventional shield cases.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 2 there is shown an electrical connectorshield case 100 consisting of front and rear case sections 110 and 120for enclosing an insulation block 140.

The front case section 110 has a pair of major sides 112 and 113 and apair of minor sides 114 and 115 for defining a cylindrical enclosure 111having a trapezoidal section. The major side 112 is integral with atransverse flange 116 having a fastener slot 116' for receiving aspearhead-shaped fastener tab 128 of the rear case section 120. Thesefastener tab 128 and slot 116' constitute fastener means. A crank-shapedlink 152 connects the upper center of the major side 112 to a carryingstrip 150 which is moved by an automatic assembler (not shown). The link152 has a notch 153 for facilitating separation of the front casesection 110 from the carrying strip 150.

A pair of opposite ends 117 are joined at the center of the other majorside 113, with a locking tab 117' of one of the ends engaged with alocking recess 117" of the other end. The major side 113 has on itscentral lower edge a spearhead-shaped fastener tab 118 with a slit 118'.This fastener tab 118 is fitted into a fastener slot 126' provided in atransverse flange 126 of the rear case section 120 not only to preventseparation of the ends 117 and but to join the front and rear casesections together. The minor sides 114 or 115 is integral with amounting flange 119 with a mounting aperture 119'.

The rear case section 120 has a pair of major sides 122 and 123 and apair of minor sides 124 and 125 for defining a cylindrical enclosure 121having a trapezoidal section. The major side 122 is integral with thetransverse flange 126 having a fastener slot 126' for receiving thefastener tab 118 of the front case section 110. A crank-shaped link 152connects the lower central portion of the major side 122 to a carryingstrip 150 which is moved by an automatic assembler (not shown). The linkhas a notch 153 for facilitating separation of the rear case section 120from the carrying strip 150.

A pair of opposite ends 127 are joined together at the center of theother major side 123, with a locking tab 127' of one of the ends engagedwith a locking recess 127" of the other end. The major side 123 has atits upper cental poriton a spearhead-like fastener tab 128 with a slit128'. Its insertion into the locking slot 116' of the front case section110 not only prevents separation of the ends 127 but also joins thefront and rear case sections 110 and 120 together. The minor side 124 or125 is integral with a mounting flange 129 having a mounting aperture129'. The major sides 122 and 123 have along their lower edge supportingflanges 123' extending inward in a plane normal to the sides forsupporting the insulation block 140.

Such a shield case as described above may be made by the followingmethod.

(1) A metal sheet (hoop) with dimensions appropriate to the size of thefront and rear case sections 110 and 120 is prepared.

(2) As FIGS. 3A and 4A show, unfolded flat front and rear case sectionsare stamped out of the metal sheet in succession. A large number of flatcase sections 110 or 120 are linked to the carrying strip 150.

(3) As FIGS. 3B and 4B show, the flat case sections 110 or 120 linked tothe carrying strip 150 are continuously moved and dipped in the platingliquid 91 of a plating tank 90 for plating. Alternatively, this platingstep may be made after the next folding step or before the abovestamping step.

(4) The front and rear case sections 110 and 120 are then folded intosubstantially cylindrical forms such as shown in FIG. 1 by means of apress. At this point, each locking tab 117' is fitted into the lockingrecess 117" to join the opposite ends together.

(5) The front case section 110, the insulation block 140 with contacts130, and the rear case section 120 are then arranged as shown in FIG. 1.After the insulation block 140 is put in the enclosure 121 of the rearcase section 120, either the front case section 110 is lowered or therear case section 120 is raised so that the locking tabs 118 and 128 ofthe front and rear case sections 110 and 120 may be inserted into thecorresponding locking slots 126 and 116 of the front and rear casesections 120 and 110, respectively. As a result, the front and rear casesections 110 and 120 are joined together to house the insulation block140 between them and secure connection of the opposite ends 117 and 127.This completes the assembly of an electrical connector shield case 100(FIG. 2).

FIG. 5 shows another front case section embodying the present invention.Recently, some shield cases have springy protuberances on their sides tomake a firm contact with the mating connector in order to prevent radiowave troubles. These protuberances are very difficult to make on theshield case surfaces by the drawing process, thus increasing the productcost.

However, according to the invention, springy bosses 122A and 123A may bemade very easily in the stamping step of a metal sheet before thestamped metal piece is folded to make a cylindrical enclosure. Thesebossess 122A and 123A assure a firm contact with the mating shield caseso as to prevent radio wave troubles.

FIG. 6 shows still another shield case embodying the present invention.This third embodiment is different from the above two embodiments inthat it consists of only a single shield case section for enclosing theinsulation housing 140B. The shield case 110B has a pair of major sides112B and 113B and a pair of minor sides 114B and 115B for defining acylindrical enclosure 111B having a trapezoidal section. The major side112B or 113B has a spearhead-shaped fastener tab 118B to be insertedinto a fastener slot 146B of the insulation housing 140B. Preferably,the fastener tab has a slit 118B' for springy engagement with the slot146B. It also has a pair of L-section flanges 112B' or 113B' along itsrear edge on either side of the fastener tab 118B and a pair ofU-section flanges 112B" or 113B" along its front edge.

Opposite ends 117B are joined together at the center of the major side113B, with a T-shaped locking tab 117B' of one end fitted into aT-shaped locking recess 117B" of the other end to prevent separation ofthe ends. The minor sides 114B or 115B has a fastener tab 114B' to beinserted into a fastener slot 147B provided in the flange 145B of theinsulation housing 140B. The fastener tab 114B has a slit 114B" forproviding spring property.

The insulation housing 140B has a pair of major sides 142B and 143B anda pair of minor sides 144B and 145B for defining a space 141B having atrapezoidal section within which a plurality of male contacts 130B arearranged. The mjor side 142B or 143B has at its front edge a cut 142B'or 143B' for receiving the U-section flanges 112B" or 113B". The majorand minor sides are integral with a peripheral flange 145B having thefastener slots 146B along the major sides 142B and 143B for receivingthe fastener tabs 118B and fastener slots 147B along the minor sides144B and 145B for receiving the fastener tabs 114B'. The peripheralflange 145B further has a pair of mounting apertures 145B' for securingthe connector to a panel or the like.

As FIGS. 7A and 7B show, the method of making the shield case 110B issubstantially the same as that of the first embodiment and itsdescription will be omitted. The shield case 110B may be easilyassembled over the insulation housing 140B by placing the shield caseand insulation housing in an automatic assembler (not shown) as shown inFIG. 6 and moving them relative to each other. Thus, a large number ofshield cases may be assembled at once. The contacts supported by theinsulation housing are almost completely enclosed by the shield case,and the U-section flanges 112B" and 113B" make a springy contact withthe mating connector shield case.

In the above embodiments, the union of the opposite ends of a shieldcase are made by means of the tab-and-recess locking means and thetab-and-slot fastener means, but it may be made by means of gluing,soldering, welding, deforming, or rivetting. The above insulation blockor housing has male contacts but, of course, it may have femalecontacts.

According to the invention there are provided the following advantages.

(1) Since no drawing process is required, the yield of a metal sheet isincreased and the material cost is reduced.

(2) The continuous automatic manufacture of shield cases and thecontinuous automatic assembly of electric connectors with such a shieldcase are possible, making the unit manufacturing cost much less thanbefore.

(3) Since no drawing process is used, no soft and extensible meterial isrequired, thus increasing the range of material choices. Also, there isno or little deformation due to the process stress.

(4) Since no drawing process is used, the shield case has an eventhickness in all parts, thus maintaining high product precision andquality.

(5) The springy protuberance for making a good shield contact with themating connector may be easily made of springy metal.

(6) The connectors may be made in volume on a continuous assembly linefrom sheet material to final products with uniform quality at low cost.

While a preferred embodiment of the invention has been described above,such description is for illustrative purpose only, and it is to beunderstood that changes and variations may be made without departingfrom the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the followingclaims.

What is claimed is:
 1. An electrical connection shield case forenclosing an insulation housing having a vertical side wall surroundinga plurality of contacts, a horizontal flange integral with said verticalside wall, and first fastener means provided in said horizontal flangeof said insulation housing, which comprises:a cylindrical member made ofa metal sheet, opposite free ends of which abut each other at a seam ofsaid cylindrical member which fits over said vertical side wall of saidinsulation housing; locking means provided on said opposite free ends toprevent opening of said cylindrical member; and second fastener meansprovided on a rear edge of said cylindrical member across said seam forengagement with said first fastener means, thereby preventing anyoffsetting, overlapping and separation of said opposite free ends. 2.The electrical connector shield case of claim 1, wherein said first andsecond fastener means are a slot and a spearhead-shaped tab,respectively.
 3. The electrical connector shield case of claim 1,wherein said cylindrical member has a U-section flange on its front edgeto fit over a top edge of said vertical side wall of said insulationhousing.
 4. An electrical connector shield case for enclosing aninsulation member, which comprises:a first case section with a firstcylindrical member made of a first metal sheet, opposite first free endsof which abut each other at a first seam; first locking means providedon said first free ends to prevent opening of said first cylindricalmember; first fastening means provided on a rear edge of said firstcylindrical member across said first seam; a second case section with asecond cylindrical member made of a second metal sheet, opposite secondfree ends of which abut each other at a second seam; second lockingmeans provided on said second free ends to prevent opening of saidsecond cylindrical member; second fastening means provided in an area ona front edge of said second cylindrical member, in which said secondseam is absent, for engagement with said first fastening means, therebypreventing offsetting, overlapping, and separation of said first freeends.
 5. The electrical connector shield case of claim 4, wherein saidfirst fastening means is formed in a spearhead shape and said secondfastening means is a slot provided in a flange extending from said frontedge of said second cylindrical member.
 6. The electrical connectorshield case of claim 4, wherein said first cylindrical member has atleast one protuberance for making a spring contact with a matingconnector shield case.